2019 Customer Reviews

Travel China Guide (TCG) organised a 16 night private tour for us to Shanghai - Beijing - Pingyao - Xian - Chengdu - Guilin and Yangshuo in October 2019. They arranged for internal travel by high speed train, booked hotels and various guided activities. We arranged our own flights to/from China and extensions to the tour to Hong Kong and Singapore. TCG were good value for money when compared with other Chinese travel agencies and about 40% less than I was quoted by well known UK travel companies for the same itinerary. I would have no hesitation recommending them.

Their guides were friendly, helpful and generally knowledgable. Most spoke and understood good English. Some went beyond the agreed itinerary and arranged additional activities for us.

Our travel consultant was Kelly Wang who was first class. I first contacted Kelly in September 2018 with a fairly detailed itinerary and worked with her by email on six iterations of the itinerary before paying a deposit in mid November 2018 for a tour that started in mid October 2019. She was always responsive, no more so than when I had to call her when we were in China to re-arrange our tour when we had a problem at one of the hotels we'd chosen.

Highlights of our tour were Beijing (Forbidden City, Tianamen Sq) and the Great Wall, Xian (Terracotta Army) and Chengdu (Panda Research Station). They all exceeded our expectations. If i was planning the trip again I'd skip Pingyao (ancient walled city but touristy) and the River LI Cruise we did from Guilin to Yangshuo and spend more time in Shanghai and Beijing.

A few other tips. Do use the high speed rail network to get around. It's world beating. Travel first class as its more comfortable (many of the trains we travelled on were very busy) and the extra cost is small by western standards. Watch out for the battery powered scooters in cities. There everywhere and you don't hear them coming, even on the footpaths! Take some cash but don't be surprised to have use your plastic more than you might think. Electronic payment using mobile phones is very widespread, much more than in Europe, even in markets. I've seen reports of Amex and other western credit cards being linked to WeChat Pay soon which will be a real boon. The TCG website is great source of useful information that I used to supplement my research with guides such as the Lonely Planet Guide.

Finally, do go and visit China. You won't regret it.

First, Yori was an absolute delight to deal with! - as well as Jessica! I have ordered high valued tickets and my primary concern was: are the names on the tickets are spelled correctly, will it arrived to my hotel safely? Jessica did check (by asking passport details), this gave me peace of mind, and she updated me constantly as well. Thank you! After that, I asked her if I could book some tours, she then referred me to Yori, who was an absolute delight to deal with. He ensured all my needs were met!

I booked two tours, one to go to Great Wall and the other one to Terracotta Army. The vehicles were clean and comfortable. The drivers were always polite. Jonathan was eager to help, he was the tour guide to the Great Wall, while Lily - or i called her auntie Lily because of her warm approach and her command of information - so confident. I have exchanged WeChat (download it, it is helpful) with them. Until the day we are living Xi’an, Lily was messaging us to ensure all in order! As I said, like an Aunt.

Over all the money you paid is worth it.

I had a great China vacation thanks to the very well organized tour from TravelChinaGuide.com management, the knowledgeable tour guides, the nice drivers and the nice travel mates that I met during the tour (and that now are my friends!).
I love culture so I would enjoy more time in the Shanghai Museum; in Beijing's Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace; and in Xian's Terracota Warriors and Horses Museum. I think also that some extra time for shopping souvenirs: I recommend time in the Muslim Market in Xian (The prices were good) and more time in the Yu Garden in Shanghai (we had 30 minutes) or the market under the subway station in Shanghai (close to the Science and Technology Museum). Maybe you can arrange an optional "evening" tour to the markets after all cultural things for the day are seen. People not interested in shopping can just stay in the hotel. I had that in other tours (To Egypt) and it worked very well. I would spend less time in the Three Gorges Dam Project place.
I liked the restaurants visited in Xian and Shanghai. I liked the Dumplings Dinner but I know some people were not trilled. I also wanted "Diet Coke" or "healthy coke" since I have sugar problems and it was not very easy to find :(
I think TravelChinaGuide.com provides great value for the price, and are always prompt to respond to any of your questions and inquiries. I highly recommend Travel China Guide to anyone thinking about visiting China for vacation.

We have to say that the China Travel Guide team exceeded expectations. We dealt with Vera on all of our tour arrangements and pricing for our week long tour in China and I was impressed. Vera got back to us promptly on all our questions with plenty of options as we wanted to include travel on the bullet train from Beijing to Xi’an. She made it happen. The guides were first rate Dennis in Beijing and Lilly in Xi’an not only met us at the airport but made sure we were safely on the next leg of of trip. I would not have wanted to try and navigate Beijing’s main railway station by ourselves and we appreciated Dennis’s commitment by staying close to us and seeing us off. Tour drivers were very good and the vehicles were new and clean for getting around the cities. The guides are knowledgeable and know their stuff. Enjoyed the family meal that was arranged for us. The tour was arranged and conducted in English and we had no problems what so ever. The Wyndham Grand in Xi’an I was a good choice for accommodations.

I'm 68 years, China is the 57th country I've visited.
I declare, was one of the greatest experiences of my life the 14-day small group tour, organized by TCG. Magical natural environment, rich cultural heritage, the harmony of tradition and modernity, kind, helpful and environmentally friendly people they impressed me. Places, monuments, facilities and cultural attractions along the route are all about themselves. But it was just as great an experience for me: visiting Beijing's old Hutong; In Xian, the host cooked lunch at the home of a local family and Tai Chi morning at City Wall Park; Yangshuo Authentic West Street Market, Guilin for an evening stroll downtown in the shopping district; In Shanghai the Bund in the evening light; an eternal memory 5.5 hours on the Li River, 3 days on the Yangtze River and 1 hour on the Shanghai Huangpu River. The world is not round without China, and if it's China, it's just Travel China Guide! Extremely professional team with excellent guides. If I go to that area again I travel with them again.
On behalf of my 4-person family thank you for everything!

We made our decision to go with your company because of all the testimonials from your former clients. We would like to add some of our own comments to let other people know how pleased we were and to, perhaps, help someone else make a decision that they will never regret.
We arrived in Beijing and Candy was waiting for us after we picked up our luggage. We were a bit nervous as we did not know how our tour would begin and if someone would be there! She was such a friendly, fun person filled with information and doing whatever she could do make us comfortable. We loved everything in Beijing but going to the Great Wall of China was the highlight. We took the chair lift to the wall and we all tobaggoned down.
In Xian, Tracy, was our guide and we all enjoyed her very, very much. It was sad when we had to say good-bye to her. Suzzi in Shanghai was another wonderful guide. We had so much fun doing all the tours with her. Ah, Jessica, in Chengdu was so fantastic, fun, and had a wonderful personality........ We miss all of them and think of them often. I just wanted to say how these wonderful, knowledgable guides helped to make our China trip so very memorable. Of course, the travel itinerary you planned for us was outstanding! We could not have had such an amazing trip without it.
We have to mention all the wonderful drivers connected with our guides. They went out of their way to make sure we were comfortable and cool........ with water always available. The cars were always clean, cool and waiting whenever we needed them.
The food was always delicious and more than we could ever eat. We never went hungry and our guides went out of their way to make sure we were happy with the meals. We were very pleased with the meal in Xian at the hotel as it was a nice break to have Western food for dinner. I think your choices were excellent.
The only thing that concerns us is that we have been thoroughly spoiled by the care and service we received from you. Choosing your company was the best decision and it made our trip to China so incredible!!
Thank you for one of the most wonderful experiences of our lives!!

In summary, the service was exceptional - the local guides were great, and my TCG contact was patient and flexible. The itinerary was relaxed and provided opportunities to get out on my own and basically see the sights on a schedule that was comfortable for me - with the opportunity to consult with each guide on the pro's and con's of different places; and how to get there and back. The overall package was an amazing value, and ultimately the guides and TCG contact exceeded my expectations and provided me an experience I will not soon forget. I will recommend this team to anyone planning a visit to China.

Dear Kelly,

It was so very nice to meet you in Xian and thank you for the gifts. You are a very nice young woman I just wanted to thank you for arranging our trip. I was a little nervous about booking and pre-paying the trip. But, your daily emails made me feel much more comfortable. You were very thorough and explained all aspects of the trip in your daily e-mails. I could not be more satisfied with your personal service and the service and tour provided by your company. It truly was more, much more, than I expected. Having worked in customer service, my entire working career, I can truly say you definitely delivered more than promised. So thank you once again, and will definitely plan our next trip with you.

Our recent trip to China was in October 2019 and this was our second tour with Travel China.
Both tours were handled smoothly by Angela Li as the travel consultant. She is efficient and very prompt in responding inquiries, questions and requests. In short we like her service very much.
The overall trip took 15 days, covered Xian, Tibet, Chengdu and finally back to Xian.
It was truly amazing and unforgettable experience. All selected guides & drivers, reserved flights & trains including seat arrangement were just incredible. Those met our expectation.
We are now asking her to arrange our next visit in March 2020, we wish to have more exciting journey with Travel China Guide soon.

We would like to thank you for making our vacation so VERY memorable and such a happy event which we will remember always. Our guides in Beijing was Kitty who went out of her way to make sure everything ran smoothly and we believe that she was an exceptional guide. She suggested things that we could do in our free time, places to eat, markets to visit, general sightseeing places to visit which we were very happy to see on our own. Nothing was too much trouble for her including finding a hat I lost in Behai Park. In Xian we had Lily and it would not be possible to have a better guide than Lily. We found Lily to be the best guide on the whole tour even though most of the others were excellent. Her knowledge of the history was excellent. We thoroughly appreciated all the information she gave us. The meals were excellent. The sightseeing was also excellent and we intend to return to Xian as we had such a wonderful time. It was a pleasure to meet Cindy, the person who arranged the tour for us. In Chongqing we had a lovely young lady whose name I have forgotten but she took us to a lovely village in the city with old Chinese beds. It was wonderful. She paid for the locals to carry our luggage onto the ship. It would have been good to have more time in this city as it looked like a wonderful city to visit. The trip down the Yangtze was very memorable and relaxing even though the side trip to Fengdu was very poor. The guide had too many people and not enough knowledge. The other side trip to Shennong Stream was enjoyable. Three Gorges Dam site is a wonderful experience. In Yichang we had a very good guide and I cannot remember his name. He took us to the Sturgeon fish breeding program which was very interesting. He also took us to the silk embroidery gallery which was excellent, the local 3 gorge history museum. In Shanghai we were met by Naomi who took us to a local family which we found fascinating. The visit to the water village was one of the highlights of our Shanghai stay. Naomi also suggested a night cruise on the Hangpu River to view the city by night. It was an excellent suggestion. We really enjoyed our free time in Shanghai visiting markets and temples. We asked them to add some more days to Guilin. In Guilin we were met by Karen who was wonderful. The Li River cruise was very pretty and memorable. Karen suggested the local restaurants and local dishes to try while we were in Yangshou as well as sights to visit with our free time. We returned to Guilin and visited all the tourist areas on the itinerary. We had a little free time left so Karen asked what we wanted to do and we asked to be dropped off at the 2 Pagoda lake to take pictures. We were very happy with all arrangements made by Karen. She was very helpful. Many many thanks for everything.